R.I.P. Vixen Guitarist Jan Kuehnemund

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jan Kuehnemund, founder and guitarist for the all-female metal band Vixen, has died after a long battle with cancer. She was 51.

Kuehnemund started Vixen in high school while she lived in St. Paul, Minnesota. She and Janet Gardner moved to Los Angeles in 1985, eventually signed to EMI, and released their self-titled debut in 1988. The album featured two hits: "Edge of a Broken Heart" (co-written by Richard Marx) and "Cryin'". They became figures in the glam metal scene alongside bands like Bon Jovi and Poison.

Kuehnemund was a member until they disbanded in the early 1990s. When the band reformed in the late 1990s without Kuehnemund, the guitarist sued the band and won. In the 2000s, she and Gardner reunited the band once again and released a studio album, a live album, and played VH1's "Bands Reunited".

The band shared this statement on their website:

Though most well known for her gifted guitar playing and other musical talents, Jan was a rare friend and beautiful in every sense of the word. Humble, thoughtful, loyal and kind, she was the most gracious of women, possessing the quiet strength of a true warrior. She genuinely loved and appreciated her friends and fans more than most could ever know. Those who were most fortunate to have known her and loved her are heartbroken at the loss of Jan, whose spirit will shine through her music eternally.

Jan was very courageous. Never complained. Never gave up. The cancer beat her body but it NEVER broke her spirit at any point. Up until the actual moment that she died, she really believed she was going back home.